Somerset youths to play in World Junior Championships for Dek hockey

Friday

Jan 5, 2018 at 1:08 PMJan 5, 2018 at 1:09 PM

George Austin Editor

SOMERSET — Dek hockey may not be well known around the local area, but the sport is popular enough that it will be taking brothers Jon and Josh Pacheco from their home in Somerset to Slovakia next June.

The Pachecos have been chosen to play in the World Junior Championships of Dek hockey. Jon will play on the U.S. National Team for the U16 age group while Josh will play on the U14 team.

The Pachecos were invited to try out for the national teams after being noticed in Dek hockey tournaments. They then had to survive two rounds of cuts to be selected for the teams.

"It sounded exciting," Jon said of his reaction to be being chosen for the national team to play in Slovakia.

Dek hockey is similar to street hockey in that players wear sneakers and use a ball instead of a puck like they do in ice hockey. The playing surface is a hard plastic. It's a five-on-five game.

The Pachecos will be going to Slovakia for a week. There will also be teams from Canada, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Russia at the World Junior Championships.

Their father, John Pacheco, has played Dek hockey for a long time. He played ice hockey at Durfee High School for one year. His two sons started playing the sport at the Police Athletic League in Fall River. Out of the PAL came a travel Dek hockey team named the Spindle City Warriors that Jon and Josh play for. Eddy Costa, the president of the Fall River Dek Hockey Association, runs the Warriors who play in three or four tournaments per year.

"I don't get bored of it," Jon said of Dek hockey. "It's fun to play."

Jon has played ice hockey for seven years. He is a sophomore at Somerset Berkley Regional High School where he is on the ice hockey team. Jon said playing Dek hockey has improved his ice hockey skills. John said Dek hockey helps players to learn how to position themselves for ice hockey games. Jon said if he does not have ice hockey practice, he is usually outside shooting a Dek hockey ball around.

"You have to be fast, you have to be in the right place at the right time," Jon said of the keys to playing Dek hockey well.

The Pachecos will be going to training sessions for the national teams in Dracut and Pennsylvania before going to Europe for the World Junior Championships. There will also be U18 and U20 Dek hockey teams competing in Slovakia. Jon said that while he has not practiced with any of his teammates on the national team yet, he has played against them in tournaments, so he is familiar with how they play.

Jennifer Pacheco, who is Jon and Josh's mother, said they had to update the passports of the two boys and come up with some plans for fundraising to pay for the trip to Slovakia that she said is expensive. They have a gofundme page at https://www.gofundme.com/pacheco-brothers-us-dek-hockey-trip.

The players on the U.S. national teams had to sign a code of conduct for their behavior because they will be representing their country at the World Junior Championships. They also had to agree to a social media policy.

There is one other youth from Fall River who was chosen for the national teams, but the rest in Massachusetts are from other areas of the state.

Jon and Josh, who is in eighth grade at Somerset Middle School, also have a sister, Julie, who is in third grade at South Elementary School, who just completed her first year of Dek hockey. All three of them play ice hockey for the Somerset-Watuppa-Swansea Youth Hockey League. The Pachecos do not play other sports.

Josh said Dek hockey is fun. Jennifer said her children have made bonds with other Dek hockey players.

"They spend so much time together," she said. "Even as parents, we've all become such good friends."

Jennifer said a tournament can involve being at a Dek hockey site all day. She said people bring tents and cook food. Jennifer said when the older players are not playing, they watch the younger players in their games, so it is a family atmosphere. Dek hockey games are usually played outside, but there are a few indoor facilities for the sport.

The Dek hockey season in general starts after the ice hockey season is over in the spring. Jon said Dek hockey is very competitive. There are three levels of Dek hockey- A, B and C. Jon and Josh have played on the A and B levels. Jon won the Warrior of the Year award as the most valuable player of his team while Josh won the Beaver of the Year Award for being the best player in his division. The divisions include Penguins for eight to 10-year-old players, Beavers for 10 to 12-year-old players and Cadets for 13 to 15-year-old players. Jon plays center in both Dek hockey and ice hockey. Joshua plays left wing in both. The Dek hockey players wear helmets, elbow pads, shin pads and gloves. There is no checking in Dek hockey, but the Pachecos said the games still get very physical.

John said his two sons are different kinds of players. He said Jon is very passionate about the game and works hard at it. He said Josh has a lot of natural talent and speed. John said that all three of their children were good at hockey from the time they started. Jon and Josh started playing at nine or 10 years old and Julie started at eight years old.

"I'm their father, I'm biased," John said. "But you can ask their coaches and they'll tell you. I'm one of their coaches, too."

Jon's favorite National Hockey League player is Tyler Seguin while Josh likes watching Johnny Gaudreau.

"It's a disciplines sport, so they learn discipline from it," John said of the benefits of hockey to his children. "It keeps them in physical shape. It keeps them out of trouble."

Besides their own interest in Dek hockey, the Pachecos are trying to encourage other youths in the area to play the sport. John said other parents are surprised when they find out how popular Dek hockey is. Over the summer, the Fall River Dek Hockey Association, for which John is on the board of directors and is a skills coach, started building a Dek hockey rink at the Swansea YMCA. They have bought a used Dek hockey surface in Pittsburg. The surfaces are put together with small squares. John said there are no Dek hockey facilities in the area, so the Warriors have always traveled to places, like Cranston, R.I. and Lakeville to play the sport. There will be registration sessions for the new Dek hockey program, which is for ages four years old to 17 years old, at the Swansea YMCA. Those registration sessions will be on Feb. 12 from 5:30 pm. to 8 p.m. at the Fall River YMCA and on Feb. 15 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Swansea YMCA, located at 271 Sharps Lot Road. The Fall River Dek Hockey Association also has a web page and Facebook page with additional information.

"It's not really big around here, but it is big in other parts of the country," John said of Dek hockey.

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